The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on Saturday claimed to have thwarted a targeted contract killing by arresting three alleged shooters linked to foreign-based gangsters Keshav Shivala and Amrit Dallam.
The accused have been identified as Anmol Singh and Jagroop Singh, both residents of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district and Mohit Bhatti of the Gate Hakiman area in Amritsar.
The police said the accused were apprehended from beneath a bridge on the Batala Road bypass after receiving specific intelligence inputs.
During the operation, the police seized three foreign-made pistols, three magazines, 11 cartridges and three mobile phones from their possession. Their fourth accomplice, who was allegedly tasked with taking the shooters to the target location, remains at large.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were working on the directions of Shivala and Dallam. According to police, the gang has been involved in a number of extortion, murder, attempted murder and firing incidents across the Majha belt, creating fear among businessmen and doctors in the border belt from Pathankot to Tarn Taran.
During interrogation, the accused also admitted to their involvement in the murder of gangster Dharamjit Singh, alias Dharma, who was shot dead on September 25, 2025, shortly after being released from the jail on parole. Following the murder, the shooters fled to Himachal Pradesh before returning to Gurdaspur after the situation cooled down.
Sources said the accused had several criminal cases registered against them across the Majha belt. Investigators also recovered contact numbers of businessmen from their mobile phones, indicating that the gang had been making extortion calls and collecting ransom money from victims.
The accused were produced before a court on Saturday, which sent them to four-day police custody for further interrogation. In a significant disclosure, the accused allegedly told investigators that they were paid only Rs 10,000 each through hawala channels for the murder of Dharma. They further revealed that they received around Rs 5,000 for carrying out firing incidents outside the homes of individuals who refused to pay extortion demands.
